Manuscript charts showing Java's North Coast facing south. Stretching from Batavia till Surabaya, together they show in great detail how one of the most important islands not only in the Indonesian archipelago but also in the whole Southeast Asian region looked like around 230 years ago.
Both manuscripts are dated 1806 & 1807 and were ordered by perhaps the most powerful man in Indonesia, Nicolas Engelhard, who was governor of Java at the time these charts were created. Sir Stanford Raffles, Raffles often stayed with Engelhard, and together they owned coffee plantations around Buitenzorg, nowadays Bogor Java.
Hand-drawn manuscript maps and charts are for most collectors considered the holy grails, as they are the rarest and often most valuable maps to collect. That these two charts are still together, in this condition is a unique find for those interested in high-end maps and charts of Indonesia, and of Java in particular. Indies Gallery Singapore Collection, Old map of Singapore
